[andrewdavidnelson]

Hi Everyone,
I have a major problem with my Maxtor One Touch II. It has worked pretty good for over a year, and I have about 175 GB of irreplaceable data on it. When it is working fine, the blue led light flashes and it is recognized by the computer within a few seconds. However, when the drive now powers up, I only get a solid blue light and the computer does not recognize the device at all. I've looked through Maxtor's website and sent their support an e-mail but have yet to receive a response. Does anyone have any idea what may be going on? I can't send it back to Maxtor, because they do not service the drives, they only replace them, and I NEED to get all the data back. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Andrew

Dell Inspiron 6000
Windows XP
Pentium M, 1.6 Ghz
60 GB Hard Drive
1.5GB Ram

I use a normal firewire to firewire 4-pin cable on my Maxtor.

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It may be that the interface board has died. The disk inside might be an IDE drive, so if you are willing to ignore the warranty, you could try opening the case and directly connect the disk. It could also be a problem with the disk, which would present more problems. You might also check the power supply.

This is why I prefer to put a drive in an external case rather than getting a pre-built unit as you then would have the ability to take the drive out without worrying about the warranty. It does not help you in this case, but if you need to replace it, it is something to consider.

It is also important to mention that if the data is important, you should consider making backups of it. Yes, it is a bit late now, but something to consider for the future.

[Kemasa]

It may be that the interface board has died. The disk inside might be an IDE drive, so if you are willing to ignore the warranty, you could try opening the case and directly connect the disk. It could also be a problem with the disk, which would present more problems. You might also check the power supply.

This is why I prefer to put a drive in an external case rather than getting a pre-built unit as you then would have the ability to take the drive out without worrying about the warranty. It does not help you in this case, but if you need to replace it, it is something to consider.

It is also important to mention that if the data is important, you should consider making backups of it. Yes, it is a bit late now, but something to consider for the future.

[andrewdavidnelson]

Thanks for the response. I'd like to directly connect the disk, but I can't quite figure out the best way to open the drive. There are two small screws at the rear which just take off the protective plastic plate cover, and then there doesn't seem to be any easy way to get inside from there.

I'll certainly back up my data to Cds next time, but I really can't afford to lose what is on there right now.

[Kemasa]

Some cases are not designed to be opened, so you might have to use a bit more "force" than otherwise, at the same time being careful to not damage the disk. Some are just plain tricky to figure it out, like a puzzle box.

Is there an external power supply? If so, you might check to see if it is putting out enough power (measure the voltage when it is connected).

[andrewdavidnelson]

I just checked the Maxtor website for tech specs, and the drive is ATA if that makes any difference.

[austin_o]

Some off the shelf prefabricated enclosures are not intended to be user serviceable. This is probably one of them. If it is not under warranty and there is no option for replacement, carefully examine the case and see if you can open it. Like Kemasa said, be careful not to damage the drive inside. If you can get the drive out of the case, there is still no guarantee that you will be able to put it inside of your computer and get your data. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is a chance you could get your data back if you try. If you don't try, you lost it anyway.

[andrewdavidnelson]

Thanks for the responses -as far as the power supply goes, it appears to be fine. I'm a little hesitant about opening the actual case for fear of damaging the disk, so I may have to explore the option of sending it out to an absurdly expensive data recovery company. It seems there are a few that actually specialize in recovering data from Maxtor drives. I feel pretty helpless, but I don't want to damage it further.

[Kemasa]

Personally I would not send it out to a recovery service until you try removing the disk since the disk might work fine. You could ask the service to see what they say about it being in the case.

As long as you are careful, you should be able to remove the disk from case, even if you have to cut the case.